🎉 Ah, the KIM-1 turns 50, and what better way to celebrate than a GitHub demo no one asked for, buried under a pile of buzzword salad? 🤖 Just remember, folks: nothing screams "party" like platform #AI and code security lingo. 🎂
https://github.com/netzherpes/KIM1-Demo #KIM1 #50thAnniversary #GitHubDemo #BuzzwordSalad #CodeSecurity #HackerNews #ngated
#Kim1
Happy 50th Birthday KIM-1
https://github.com/netzherpes/KIM1-Demo
#HackerNews #Happy #50th #Birthday #KIM-1 #KIM1 #Demo #RetroComputing #TechAnniversary #VintageComputers
Commodore Disk Drive Becomes General Purpose Computer https://hackaday.com/2026/01/05/commodore-disk-drive-becomes-general-purpose-computer/
#Retrocomputing #Commodore #Commodore1541 #Diskdrive #Diskettedrive #Kim1
Commodore Disk Drive Becomes General Purpose Computer
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Can-a-Commodore-1541-disk-drive-be-used-as-a-general-purpose-computer_-0-32-screenshot-1.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>The Commodore 1541 was built to do one job—to save and load data from 5.25″ diskettes. [Commodore History] decided to see whether the drive could be put to other purposes, though. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=6loDwvG4CP8" target="_blank">Namely, operating as a standalone computer in its own right!</a></p>
<p>It might sound silly, but there’s a very obvious inspiration behind this hack. It’s all because the Commodore 1541 disk drive contains a MOS 6502 CPU, along with some RAM, ROM, and other necessary supporting hardware. As you might remember, that’s the very same CPU that powers the Commodore 64 itself, along with a wide range of other 1980s machines. With a bit of work, that CPU can indeed be made to act like a general purpose computer instead of a single-purpose disk controller.</p>
<p>[Commodore History] compares the 1541 to the Commodore VIC-20, noting that the disk drive has a very similar configuration, but less than half the RAM. The video then explains how the drive can be reconfigured to run like the even-simpler MOS Technology KIM-1 — a very primitive but well-known 8-bit machine. What’s wild is that this](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/844/747/686/294/595/original/99ea01118c9141a5.png)
1541 KIM-1 Kernel: Turning a Commodore 1541 Into a Computer
#Commodore64 #Commodore1541 #MOS6502 #RetroComputing #VintageComputing #8Bit #HardwareHacks #TinyBASIC #KIM1 #CommodoreHistory
https://theoasisbbs.com/1541-kim-1-kernel-turning-a-commodore-1541-into-a-computer/?feed_id=7361&_unique_id=695538a5d09fa
The KIM-1, short for Keyboard Input Monitor, is a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It was very successful in that period, due to its low price (thanks to the inexpensive 6502 microprocessor) and easy-access expandability. - Wikipedia
Discovered this very early historic home computer from my morning music "On the Other Ocean the debut studio album by American composer David Behrman,.. Considered a pioneering work of computer music, the album pairs electronics controlled by a KIM-1 computer with live players."
Predictably and wonderfully, we can build one ourselves.
http://www.6502.org/trainers/buildkim/buildkim.htm
#KIM1 #Microprocessor #SingleBoardComputer #HistoryofComputing #DavidBehrman #DIYComputers #6502 #MOSTechnology6502
Ended Monday and welcomed Tuesday after my swim with On the Other Ocean the debut studio album by American composer David Behrman, released in 1978 by Lovely Music.
Andy Beta of Pitchfork wrote for the best ambient LPs of all time placing it at 29:
"...New music composer David Behrman’s debut, On the Other Ocean, is a riposte on how humans and computers can interface and interact to make a warm, heavenly sound. It marks Behrman’s first interactive piece between man, woman, and machine; flautist Maggi Payne and bassoonist Arthur Stidfole flutter and slowly move between a series of six pitches, which in turn trigger Behrman’s KIM-1..., which reacts and pitch shifts these pure tones so as to harmonize with its human counterparts...The results couldn’t be more transportive and lovely; time melts away as soloists and microcomputer move at an unhurried pace, reveling in the resultant honeyed tones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3nG9BbzH3I&list=RDD3nG9BbzH3I&start_radio=1
Also, the VirtualKim KIM-1/Apple-I emulator on iPad, has an update with a much more usable assembler mode!
"I for one will not stand for such modernity! Software must be punched in on a front panel or nothin'! Lazy kids these days!"
I'm gonna have to sit down with this and do some real coding.
#retrocomputing #kim1
¡El MOS Technology KIM-1 (1976) fue la pequeña gran máquina que democratizó la computación! 💻 Basado en el 6502, este kit accesible fue la puerta de entrada para miles de programadores y sentó las bases de la era de las PCs. #retrocomputingmx #Kim1 #MOS6502 #efeméridestecnologica
https://retrocomputingmx.com/tdxk
The extremely rare KIM-5 expansion for the KIM-1 personal computer kit by MOS/Commodore has been archived, ROMs dumped:
As I work on my #Kim1 emulation project rabbit holes, I am having a lot of fun with various LED 7 segment displays, or rather the #Arduino library code for the driver chips!
I already have a library for a Gotek 3 digit display that uses a #TM1651. I wrote this 6 months ago while in a rabbit hole as I upgraded my Gotek.
I am adapting it for a 6 digit display that uses a #TM1637, and for an 8 digit display that uses a #TM1638.
And I am also playing with an 8 digit display that uses a #MAX7219.
As is often the case for me, I get sidetracked onto small sub-projects for most projects I tackle!
I am working on a #kim1 emulator, so I need some keypads, so I need a lot more I/O, so I need an I/O module, so I need a library...
I am using an #Arduino Pro Mini for my hardware testing, and a #PCF8574 for my extra I/O.
Anyway, none of the existing libraries for the PCF8574 were exactly right for me, so I took the closest fit and "fork'n'fixed" it!
Tada 🎉
https://github.com/ilneill/easiPCF8574
Enjoy!
Thanks to Eric Dennison, who posted photos of his RNB Enterprises KIM-1 motherboard setup I have updated the RNB page:
http://retro.hansotten.nl/rnb-vak-1-photos/ #kim1
MOS/Commodore produjo la primera computadora de placa única, la KIM1.
Había otras de placa única antes de ésta, pero no tenían entrada (teclado) y salida (pantalla) integradas. El SOL, el NOVA son ejemplos, pero NO eran computadoras de placa única
#retrocomputingmx #commodore #Kim1
I am digging into how the #6502 CPU works, as I write my own emulator for the #Arduino, and the #Kim1 microprocessor board has caught my interest. So I thought I would see what eBay has to offer.
OMG! Yes, you can buy a Kim1 harking from 1979... For £1700+ 😱
Another browser tab has an open source #Kim1 emulator that will easily run on my #ArduinoMega ✔️
Hmm, yes, I think that will be the path I take, hell yes!
Just need to work out how to drop in my CPU to be able to do comparative testing. 👍
The only way to play computer chess!!!! 😎👍 #kim1 #microchess
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